Falling Angel
by Nathan Dripps
Summary: rewrite of Falling Apart but coming back together. What happens when Satania's pain reaches a breaking point? who will save her? T for mentions of cutting and one event of attempted suicide. Trigger warnings for both.
1. Fallen Pride

Fallen Pride

Satania and her friends had been on Earth for a good two years. Not much had changed between their arrival to the mortal realm and now; Gabriel was still a lazy bum who couldn't give a reason why she had a halo to save her life, Vignette was still the exasperated mom friend, and Raphiel was still a sadist (with benefits.)

And to them, Satania was still the airhead with an ego the size of the world that they now resided in. To them, she was still the same wannabe demon queen who made world takeover claims on a daily basis, the same Satania who loved melon bread, but could never actually eat it, because of her terrible luck.

But, alone in her room, a very _different _Satania lay, wishing she wasn't as much as a failure as she was. Her self confidence was practically non-existent in comparison to two years ago; she had long ago realized that she could never _dream _of getting into any basic leadership position, let alone a worldwide dictator. And two _long _years, two _terribly lonely _long years, exempt from everything, tended to make even your most favourite treat tasteless and empty.

One constant that remained between Satania then and Satania now was that she still craved attention. She longed for someone to see her, to acknowledge her. The only way she knew to attract attention was to _destroy._

Two years ago, she did that by causing the lightest of mischief, from throwing trash into recycling to leaving other people's pens uncapped when they weren't looking. But Satania had long ago learned that anything she did was not enough to warrant attention from the likes of anyone—especially not her friends.

So with nothing else to destroy, she destroyed herself.

It started with drugs. Marijuana. She...she wanted that attention...and the men in the back alleys certainly didn't neglect her that. They acted like they _knew_ her. Like they _understood_ her. In the back of her mind, Satania knew it was just a trick to make her buy more drugs, but _dammit_ if Satania didn't revel in the attention.

And If she became addicted, _so what? _Her friends might _actually _look at her for once, then. It didn't matter if it was pity or not. At least she would be _noticed._

But that's not what happened. Drugs...have a different effect on demons than other living things. One hit felt the same, so did two, and maybe three. But after that, drugs changed her. Her demonic immune system took the drug in a worse way than a human would_, _and a new side of her awakened. She felt tired all the time, and she could no longer repel those feelings of loneliness. She had no addiction, but the drugs certainly did something.

Satania's eyes opened, tears welling up. She was slumped over in her bathroom, she remembered. Her arms stung, covered in cuts from earlier in the hour. She up glared at the mirror over her sink, hating what she'd become.

**Inevitable, really.**

Her teeth clenched. "Shut up."

**Hating the truth, as always. **

"...Shut up!"

**Hates that she has no friends, hates her patheticness, hates her cowardice, hates her demonhood…**

**Hating the truth, as always.**

"I said, SHUT UP!" Satania screamed, throwing her knife at the mirror.

The mirror shattered.

**You can't run from the truth, Satania. **Voice whispered, emotionless as always.

Satania suddenly felt extremely spent. Her anger left her face, falling out of it like dripping water. She felt her eyes well up, and she was crying. Again.

**Pathetic.**

She was tired of this. This…"life". This...existence. What was the point of coming here? Two years ago, she would have said "to become Queen of humans/demons." But there was no way that was happening. So what reason did she have to stay here?

She tried to think. Friends? The only one she might consider a "true" friend was Vignette, and she was sure that was out of pity. The dog? Satania was pretty sure he was only along for the ride. School? She had long lost the ability to keep up in class. Society in general? Who was she kidding, she never contributed to it in _any _way. Okay, then, maybe she could return to Hell. _No_, she thought. Her family didn't truly see her. They pretended to care, but they only _cared _about her rise to queenhood. Other than her brother, who didn't care about anything.

If only...she wasn't a demon.

**If you weren't a demon, you wouldn't exist.**

Satania stopped. She stopped thinking, she stopped crying, and she stopped breathing. Her eyes drained of their violet color, and her mouth closed into a thin line. _Fine. _She thought. _I won't, then._

_I'll be an angel._

In her clouded state, she thought this was a perfectly fine idea. The denizens of Heaven didn't know who she was, so she could start over! Surely Gabriel and Raphiel were out of the norm when it came to angels, right? Surely the angels above would accept her when she got up there, right?

**You could never be an angel, fool. You are a demon. And not only that, you would make a horrible angel, just as you make a horrible demon. How could you expect to be **_**anything **_**upstairs when you are **_**nothing **_**down here?**

Satania accepted this as truth, but even so, she responded with the same quiet thought.

_I'll be an angel._

**Go ahead and try.**

So she pushed down her sleeves, ignoring the dull pain from rubbing her arms. She walked out of her bathroom, grabbing her coat, and put on her slippers. Slowly opening the door, she stepped out of her apartment.

It was raining.

She never grabbed an umbrella, choosing to take off down the the run, her thoughts finally began to circulate again.

_What are you doing? _Her mind screamed, begging to be heard.

_I'll be an angel._

_Do you even know what that means? How are you even going to be one?_

_I'll be an angel._

_Why? Think for a moment about what you'll be leaving! Your parents! Alexander! The dog! Your brother!_

_I'll be an angel._

At that moment, she bumped into someone on the street. "Sorry," She muttered, unfocused. The lady she had bumped into froze for a moment, and Satania was shaken out of her spell to get a good look at her. The lady had golden hair that flowed softly down to her shoulders. Her eyes were sky blue, shining bright even on this stormy day. She carried herself like a mother, and for a moment, Satania thought she had walked into heaven, because this woman definitely looked like an angel. "It's okay, dear." The woman smiled kindly, giving off a motherly vibe.

**Forget about her. Keep going.**

And just like that, Satania turned around, the woman forgotten. She had a job to do.

_I'll be an angel._

* * *

The woman's smile dropped suddenly. Dr. Eve Adams had just felt her angelic aura shrink a little when that girl collided into her. Normally, when an angel's aura was impacted, the angel was obligated to move away from the impactor (a potential sinner) in order to keep their aura pure.

But Dr. Eve was no ordinary angel. She liked to _use_ her aura as a radar for troubled souls. She often found that a potential "sinner" was actually just a person having a lot of bad thoughts. And while Commander Michael disapproved of her exposure to such people, Eve argued that it was an angel's duty to help humans.

So she got a PHD in psychology, determined to help Earth. She was not well known, but not because she was bad. She was really more Japan's best kept secret.

_That girl...something was off._ She thought. Whether it was from how the girl carried herself (slumped, sad, resigned) or the way her eyes looked (dull, steeled) or the way she responded (slowly, scared) Eve couldn't help but feel..._anxious_. As soon as the girl took off again, Eve gave chase.

* * *

Satania certainly lived up to her demonhood when it came to her speed, at the very least. She felt like no time had passed between her being on the ground and her being on the roof. She hadn't the slightest idea what building she had climbed up, other than that it was very tall. And sure, that what was she was looking for, but now that was she was there, she was...scared.

**Of course you are, coward. **

Satania flinched, looking down at the ground cold feet. Was this _really _the right choice? Death was permanent.

_No it's not. You are going to be an angel. You have _nothing _here._

That was the last push Satania needed.

* * *

Eve had watched with silent horror and astonishment as she watched the girl toe the line between air and building edge. She had followed the girl very closely when she had ran away, using her concealed wings to keep up with her. And when she had ended up on the roof of a building, her worst fears had been confirmed. She was going to jump. Eve knew that humans did try this, she knew they tried to kill themselves, and it hurt every time they did.

Eve would be damned if she didn't stop this. So when the girl jumped, she acted fast. Her wings spread behind her, and she didn't bother to use concealing magic to hide the heavenly glow. She dived like a hawk towards the fallen girl over the edge, almost like prey. She reached her just in time.

She caught the girl with a hug. When Satania looked up at the woman, her last thoughts were, _wow, Heaven is beautiful._

* * *

Satania woke up on the warmest bed she had ever felt. The room she was in felt _very _cozy, and from where she was laying, she saw a fireplace burning at the far end of the room. _Is this...heaven?_

**You wish.**

Satania shot up, looking around. _Where am I? _She couldn't be in heaven. If she was, she wouldn't hear..._him._ This must be another one of Raphiel's pranks. The walls suddenly looked less like a warm, sunflower-printed wallpaper design, and more like an actual field of flowers. Raphiel must have teleported her to another island again! Satania's eyes widened. The fire was growing. It was growing. She tried to escape the bed, but the covers held her down, smothering her. She couldn't breathe. _She couldn't breathe— _

"Hello, love."

And suddenly, Satania was back in the bed, they weren't tying her down, and the fire was normal again. But standing over her was the same golden-haired woman from before. The woman wasn't smiling, however. Rather, she looked concerned. "How are you feeling?" The woman asked.

Satania stared up at her, wide eyed and silent. The woman smiled slightly, sitting down. "My apologies, hon. I guess I should introduce myself first. My name is Dr. Eve Adams, nice to meet you."

Satania was quiet when she answered. "Why am I here?"

`Eve got that same look from earlier. Sad and concerned. It made the demon uneasy. "You...remember what you tried to do, right?"

Satania knew. But she stayed silent. The only sign she gave was a nod.

**Worthless.**

Eve continued. "Satania, I'm going to show you something, and I don't want you to panic, okay?"

Satania was already panicking. "How do you know my name?" She accused. Eve paused, then indicated the Satania's backpack at the end of the bed. "Well, _that _says 'the great Satania' in big bold letters. It didn't take me long to put two and two together." She laughed musically, and her laughs sounded exactly like Satania though they would.

But then her laughter ended as soon as it started. "Okay, Satania. I'm going...to show you now."

Satania went quiet again, and stated at the woman like prey about to be eaten.

And her worst fears were confirmed when Eve unveiled her wings.

Satania immediately recoiled, grabbing a pillow to hide behind. "Get away from me!" She shrieked. Of course the woman was a _fucking _angel. Oh...Raphiel was here, somewhere. When Eve only got closer, Satania threw the pillow, yelling, "I said, get the _fuck _away from me! Raphiel, I don't know what _the hell _is wrong with you—"

Eve had hugged her. _Again. _"I'm...not Raphiel, Satania. She's...not here. Although, It is news to me that you know of her. She was pretty notorious for being..._evasive_...when it came to her routine duties. I always wondered how she got elected to come to earth…"

Eve had suddenly realized that she was rambling. What was she talking about when the girl in her arms looked paralyzed and scared out of her mind? "Satania...look. What happened today, we don't need to talk about it. We don't even need to tell _anyone _about it, okay? But from now on, you're moving in with me."

Satania pulled away from the hug, looking incredulously at the woman in front of her. "What do you mean, _move in with you_? I don't even know you!"

Eve took a breath. "Well, from now on, I am your guardian-slash-psychotherapist. I know we don't really know each other, but um, as an angel, I'm obligated to, no, I want to—"

"And that's another thing!" Satania flung her arms up. "You're an angel! I'm a demon, if you didn't know already! Why are _you _taking care of _me_?"

Eve was honestly puzzled. There was no way to answer that question without making more questions. "Satania, What's happened to you _shouldn't _happen to anyone. I know every soul—human, demon, or angel—is the same. Angels and demons can act like their opposites, because there really is no opposite. I'm not taking care of a demon, I'm taking care of you, Satania."

"But..why?" Satania whispered.

Eve looked at her. "Satania...you are hurting. Deep down, you are a kind soul, you know."

**She's lying! She's lying and you know it! Raphiel is out there, with the dog just behind! You are **_**nothing!**_

"How would you know that?" Satania's voice rose. "You don't know anything about me!"

Eve remained calm. "I do, though. We angels can sense emotions just as accurately as a lesser succubus, and when I bumped into you, I felt all of your sadness and self loathing roil around you, Satania. But what I also know is that for self loathing and depression to exist, there has to be something that is a cause of it. And while you were sleeping, I felt everything you used to be. You were happy, love. And you can still be."

Satania stared at this woman, this fucking _angel_, this person whom she had no prior acquaintance with, and she collapsed. Maybe it was the mother's smile that the woman had, or the hugs that made Satania feel like bliss, but Satania decided he would give this woman a try.

"Now, hon, are you hungry?"

And Satania's head whipped up to the smell of melon bread. For the first time in a while, She craved the taste.

* * *

**So what? Did I improve? Is it better? I personally feel like I made it **_**way **_**better. I certainly put a lot of effort into this. Congrats to WonderBlade0 on their story **_**Pieces**_**, and thanks man for jump-starting my creative process again. Falling apart is going to be deleted tomorrow. You got like 13 more hours, guys! Love y'all! R&R!**


	2. Fallen Friend

Fallen Friend

Satania still had to check to make sure that she hadn't gone to heaven when she woke up the next morning. The room was the same, the bed was the same, and the fireplace was the same. She felt _safe _for the first time in two years.

**Don't take it for granted. You'll be thrown out as soon as she realizes just how messed up you are.**

And Satania was on edge again. There was no way Eve was going to keep a failure like her—It was only a matter of time before she's be back in her apartment.

...her apartment…

_Oh, fuck. _Satania realized. She had left her knife there, in the bloodied bathroom with the broken mirror. Her arms were itching, and she felt _the need. _

**Go on, useless. You have nails, you know.**

And suddenly Satania gave in, digging her nails against her inflamed skin. It hurt, but she knew she deserved it. She didn't know why anymore, but she knew she _needed _it.

**Pathetic. Useless. Weak. You can't even die right.**

But suddenly Eve was there, peeling her hand off of her arm. _Wait, how the hell did she get in here? _"Hon, is this how you wake up every morning? Can you tell me why?" She said, sadly.

Satania was silent, glaring down at her arms.

**You can't even **_**admit **_**how much you suck. **Voice whispered into her ear in Raphiel's voice. **Always at the end of the line. Nobody cares. You don't care. Why should she?**

But when Satania reached for her arm again, Eve held it away. "Satania, please talk to me..?" She phrased it as a question, letting Satania stay silent if she wished. "Why do you do this?"

Satania wouldn't run, not this time. "I do it...I don't know." She took a long pause.

**Because you deserve it. Because you **_**need**_ **it.**

And suddenly she was crying and shaking in Eve's arms. She cried and cried, and all the while, Eve rubbed small circles on her back. "It's okay, love. You don't need to say anything." She murmured.

"It...hurts." Satania whispered.

"What does, Satania?" Eve asked.

_My arms. My fingers. My wrists. My head._

"I...I don't know." She repeated.

"Well, Is there any way that I can make it feel better?" She offered, and Satania wondered for a moment, sniffling. When she didn't answer, Eve released her from the hug. "Well, anyways, I made breakfast! Would you like to have something?" She smiled brightly, and very briefly, _very briefly_, Satania felt like the sun could shine again.

But one moment was all it took for her stomach to make itself known. When it growled, Eve laughed. "O~kay, I can see _someone _is hungry." And she got up from the bed, pulling Satania with her, however cautiously.

**You see that? She can't **_**trust **_**you anymore. She's probably afraid you'll cut yourself to death when she looks away. Just another person who doesn't think you can take care of yourself.**

Satania looked down, feeling very, very small. And that feeling was reinforced when she stepped through her door.

Eve lived in a _mansion._ Huge, golden stairs arched away in front of her, leading up to hallways covered in red carpets with gilded-framed paintings lining the walls. Between the stairs, hanging from the ceiling, was the head of a lion, also covered in gold, water pouring from its mouth into a pool below. The floors were, like all else, golden marble. Behind the lion-waterfall were two 10-foot tall doors, slowly opening up into God knows where.

Of course this wasn't her first time seeing it, as she's toured the angel's abode

last night. But every time she saw this, she only felt more and more small and insignificant. So she was relieved when Eve lead her past the waterfall into the room beyond the doors, which was just a simple kitchen and table. It was a little less larger than life.

The table had 3 plates, two on the ends and one in the middle. The middle one was stacked high with steaming pancakes and was surrounded with syrup bottles, butter, peanut butter, jelly, whip cream, blueberries, and strawberries. There was a orange juice container off to the side. The two plates on the ends had a fork, glass, and knife lined next to them.

Well, _one _plate had a knife. The other one that didn't was where Satania was going to sit, she supposed. That, and the no-knife plate already had a bunch of pre-cut pancakes stacked on it.

**Wow, she **_**really **_**doesn't trust you.**

But after Satania had sat down and taken a bite of the food, she felt immediately at ease, glum mood gone. Voice could wait for now. Eve smiled from the other side of the table, giving her the metaphorical permission to dig into her food.

But after that breakfast, Satania's nervousness had returned as gradually as it left her, creeping back into her consciousness. Eve had somehow led her to a couch in a inconspicuous— albeit comfortable—room in this maze of a house. Eve sat down on a blue chair in front of the couch.

_Ah, hells. She's gonna go full shrink mode now, isn't she…_

**You **_**are **_**pretty messed up.**

Eve had felt her aura shrink just ever so slightly, and she frowned in concern. "Okay, Satania, you don't need to say anything about...yesterday, but I just want to check with you, okay? I need to know what I can do for you."

Satania was quiet, playing with her hands as she waited for Eve to continue.

_Oh, wait. She asked me a question, _Satania realized, and looked up at the woman in front of her. "What...you can do for me?"

Eve nodded. "Yes, I want to help you feel better. That's what this all about,"

It suddenly struck Satania about how weird this was. It didn't occur to her when she was at her low point yesterday, but, "How—I don't want to seem rude or anything—how are you able to do this? Isn't this...like, kidnapping?"

Eve was caught off guard by the question, but rolled with it. "Satania, do you...want to do this?"

And the ball was thrown back into Satania's court. "...sure? I mean, I dunno, but last night, you were like...and I...I want to see where this goes."

"So I have your consent for this?"

Satania looked down at her thumbs. "...yeah."

"And you're 18, correct?"

Satania nodded slightly.

"Well." Eve smoothed her dress. "We don't need to do this if you don't want to, but I assure you, I wouldn't try this if I wasn't _absolutely _sure you couldn't legally make your own decisions."

Satania continued looking at her hands. "Alright…"

"So, love, can I ask you something?"

Satania nodded.

"Is there anyone we can connect you with?"

_...wait, what?_

Satania's head whipped up to meet Eve's eyes. "What do you mean?"

"In your case, it is best that we get together a support network. We don't need to do this today, but eventually, love, we should try to find someone you can trust. And from there, we can help you recover faster, by having multiple people you can rely on. How does that sound?"

Satania looked at the woman.

**She's already getting tired of you. **Voice reminded.

The demon felt very vulnerable, not answering for so long. But what was she supposed to say? She hadn't had a lot of friends, aside from the other people who'd come from heaven/hell. Gabriel wouldn't care at all, Raphiel was absolutely _not _an option, and Vigne…

_No. _Satania couldn't do this to Vignette. She _couldn't _ruin the closest thing to an actual friendship that she had.

On the chair across from the girl, the angel was watching her with worried eyes. How did Satania live socially? It was _no wonder _she fell into the hole that she did. But when Eve opened her mouth to tell the girl they could do this some other time, Satania spoke, ever so quietly.

"Vignette."

Satania had let her mouth speak of its own accord. _damnit_, She told the wanting voice in her head, _What the hell!_

_Vignette cares. _The voice told her.

**No she doesn't. It's only out of pity. **Voice argued.

_She still cares! It's in her nature!_

**She does it because of how much a better person she is than you. When she sees the **_**freak **_**you are underneath, she'll leave in a heartbeat.**

"Satania? Who is that?" Eve asked, noticing the girl was going into a downward spiral.

Satania stared at her feet. "Nobody." _She might as well be, with who I am to her._

Eve was very conflicted. On one hand, she wanted to push, but on the other, she couldn't make her patient more uncomfortable than she already was. _Well then, maybe I should try a bit of a roundabout method. _She concluded.

"We don't need to tell this person anything." Eve coaxed. "But can you tell me about them?"

Satania rose her gaze back up to Eve's. "Tell..you? About...Vigne?" Eve nodded, smiling. "Yeah. just talk to me about her for a bit, if we don't want to focus on you. Just say what she's like." Eve conjured a pen and paper.

"Well...she's a demon." Satania muttered, almost offhandedly. "But really, she should have been an angel. She's way too nice, but her stipends manage to keep her afloat. She makes sure that Gabriel does her homework and stays alive, and makes sure Raphiel doesn't make a _too mean_ prank, and me…"

Eve rose an eyebrow to herself. _Gabriel_. Aw yes, the prodigy turned nearly-fallen. Quite the story up in heaven. Kept people guessing, with all of her sins. But she wasn't bad enough to completely fall, because she still had care for her friends and family, albeit grudgingly. _But still, between her and Raphiel, Satania got stuck with the worst example of heaven._

"...She's the only one who gives me a damn."

Eve was shaken back to the couch and chair, surprised. "What do you mean?"

Satania took a deep breath. "She stood up for me when my ego would give Raph more incentive to make fun of me. We went to karaoke once, just me and her. She was the one who proved to me Gabriel had a soul. She helps me with my homework...when she wasn't busy making sure I didn't _actually _bring some new toy from Hell's shopping channel to test on Gabriel. "

The last part was confusing, but Eve got the sense that this Vignette character would be the best starting option for Satania. Yes, she sounded perfect. "Are you sure you don't want to say anything to her?"

Satania immediately felt like a deer in the headlights. _She tricked me! She looped right back to the support network thing!_

"Because it seems to me that Vignette would be the easiest place to start."

Satania shook her head. "No! I can't...I can't ruin my only...friendship."

_So that's why she said 'nobody'. _Eve realized. "Satania...again, we don't need to do it today if you're not comfortable, but if we start somewhere, I think it should be with her. She seems to me like the type of person who helps you already, so she's the best option to help you through this."

**No she isn't. Nobody is. You are a lost, worthless case.**

_Eve knows what to do. _Satania's tiny voice responded. _She's already helped you feel the best you've been in two years! And Vigne won't run! She'll help you, too._

**She'll run. She's already close to doing that. She's been close to running for years. She's not really your friend.**

_...Trust Eve, okay?_

Satania gulped. "N-no...we, we can do it today."

Eve _really _wanted to hug this girl. By even _considering_ this, she was being _so _brave. She had attempted suicide _yesterday_, but already she was trying to reach out of her shell. This was very good. But even so, Eve need to make sure. "You're okay with this?"

Satania was silent for a moment. "...I want to trust you." She admitted, rubbing her arms.

Eve beamed at her, and Satania felt at ease, like everything was fine again, for a split second. "When do you want to do it?"

"...Now is okay. Before I change my mind." And Eve smiled brighter. Moving her hands around, she conjured a phone to appear. "Here." She said, handing the phone over.

Like everything else, it was golden. Satania took a deep breath, waited a second, and dialed Vigne up.

* * *

Vignette liked to believe she was a good friend. She made sure that Gabriel survived financially and educationally, kept Raphiel in check, and made sure Satania didn't isolate herself with her ego. Sure, she wished that her friends weren't always so hard to take care of, but it was that fact that made her love them more, somehow.

Currently, however, she was a little...uneasy about one of her friends. Satania was always hard to figure out, but she was even more confused because of recent events. Satania had stopped coming to school a lot, and often disappeared earlier and earlier in the rare event that she did. When confronted about it, Satania was smirk and announce, "Why, a GREAT demon such as myself doesn't need something as trivial as school! I am wasting time that could be spent TAKING OVER THE WORLD! MWAHAHAHA!" And she would raise her arms into the air triumphantly.

And the long sleeves. Her wardrobe was the other thing that changed about Satania's persona. She began to wear more muted clothes, often coming to school in greys, dark greens, and blacks. Vignette had observed this from a distance, and had wondered what was wrong. She knew that Raphiel or Gabriel might be able to tell, being angels and all, with their emotion-sensing abilities. When she asked them, all she got was a "Oh, Satania is just coming into her demonhood' and a giggle from Raph, and a "I don't care. It's probably just her ego." from Gabriel. So Vignette shrugged it off, and paid no mind. There wasn't _really _any change that Vignette could see.

But that one phone call had changed everything.

* * *

**I had a lot more planned for this chapter, but I wanted this out fast, so I could have another chance to see what you guys have to say! Please please please review! And if you do, tell me what I'm doing right, so I keep doing that. Equally important, tell me what I'm doing wrong, so I can change that. It was thanks to asianantics that I was able to get another perspective, so thanks, man. Anyways, thanks for reading! R&R, yall! DFTBA.**


	3. Fallen Hope

Fallen Hope

Goddamnit, where was Satania? Vignette needed a break from her and Satania's angelic counterparts. It has been a very long three hours of Gabriel throwing her trash all over her apartment and asking Vigne to pick it up. It was a thankless job, and doing it on a Saturday meant Vignette needed to escape. To anywhere, to anyone. And Raphiel was there too. And if Raphiel was somewhere where Satania wasn't, the angel teased the next-best replacement she could find.

Which, in this case, was Vignette. "Come on, Vigne? Face Gabriel in a fight on smash! I could never stand a chance." She coaxed. Vigne scowled. they both knew that Vigne was shit at video games of any sort, and Raphiel was probably the only who could stand on the same footing as the failen angel.

Gabe summed it up beautifully with a "Raphi, this is the girl who can't clear a single line in fucking tetris." and went back to smashing her Bs, As, and Xs. Vignette was stung by what she said, but she assumed it was Gabriel's way of stopping Vigne's humiliation before it really started.

Gabriel was nice like that.

So why was Vignette here again? To babysit them? Interestingly enough, that was not the case. Today was one of those rare events where Gabriel invited all 3 of them into her apartment. Vignette supposed that she got lonely sometimes when it was just her and a screen. Which was reassuring to Vignette, because it meant that Gabriel still had some semblance of empathy.

But, like everything recently, Satania was missing. Hence Raphiel's insistent attempts to bully Vignette, to no avail.

Vignette missed the demon. While she was certainly a handful to take care of, and hard to read as of late, Satania was sure to make everything fun. She was a genuinely nice person, and was actually quite nuanced if her ego wasn't in the way. If it wasn't for Gabriel, she would have checked on the girl in the morning, since she missed school again.

It was really making her worried.

Vignette eyed her backpack from the couch she was sitting on. Like the mom-friend she was, she brought enough homework for everyone, along with the textbooks borrowed from Shades. She was confident Raphiel had done it, but it was really for Gabriel and Satania. If Satania showed up, that was.

I haven't even started, Vignette sighed. It was a long assignment, and it was due walking in to class, which was not to be taken lightly. When Shades said that, he would stand in front of the door, in if you weren't holding the homework out, he would gangster-style shake it out of you.

But just as she began reaching for her backpack, her phone buzzed from her back pocket. She was surprised to find that it was an unknown caller—Vignette was one of the few people not constantly targeted by telemarketers. She debated not answering for a moment, but the guilt of leaving that person hanging threatened to weigh heavily on her for the rest of her life. So she pressed answer.

"V-Vigne?"

Vignette's eyes widened as Satania's voice crackled through her phone. She hadn't gotten a call from Satania in months, and hadn't had real contact from her friend in weeks. She almost yelled her name in surprise, but a hasty "are you alone?" stopped her. Vignette furrowed her brow in concern. What was wrong? She looked at the two angels for a moment. Raphiel was playing with the dog—How'd he get in here?—and Gabriel was mashing her controller's buttons while simultaneously drinking mountain dew through a straw. They weren't going to hear. "S-Satania? Is something wrong?" She whispered.

"Nothing...well, nevermind. There is something. Can you meet up with me?"

Okay, now Vigne was really worried.

"Okay..? your place, right?"

"N-no! I'm actually s-somewhere else…"

Satania wasn't at home? That was weird. But Vignette had to go to places for things like groceries, so maybe Satania was shopping? That didn't make sense either, because Satania always had her meals delivered from her home, plus enough money for melon bread.

"Alright, where?" Vignette was prepared to hear something like "The mall" or "The bakery" or "the anymart" but what she heard next alarmed her to a new degree.

"I...It's hard to explain. You've never been here. I've...never been here." Satania must have realized that that would set Vignette into mom-friend-worry-mode, because before Vignette started panicking, Satania amended her statement, saying, "I-I'm not in trouble! Here! I'll text you an address!" and she hung up, leaving Vignette very confused and worried.

But a few seconds later, she got a ding on her phone and it was okay. What scared her was that Satania was right; the address was completely unfamiliar. But determined to have a good long face-to-face talk with her absent friend, she entered it into her phone's GPS.

So Vignette stood up from the couch. "Sorry, girls, I have something that just came up. I need to go." And she left before Raphiel or Gabriel really register that she spoke.

As soon as Vignette left the apartment, she let her purple wings extend to their maximum form, and she took off following the blue destination trail on her phone. She was going to actually see her friend for the first time in months.

When she neared her friend's blue dot, she was surprised to see that she was in very rich neighbourhood. At first she thought she was passing through, but nope, the address was one of the houses in this neighbourhood. And she was even more surprised when she got there to find that it was a literal mansion.

Huge, menacing gold doors towered above her. The windows of the sides of the house were actually stained glass, with swirls of reds and greens covering their surface. Water flowed down from the sides of the mansion into huge golden pools in the ground. This is the place? Vignette thought quietly. Checking her phone confirmed yes, it was. So, taking a deep breath, Vignette rings the doorbell.

* * *

Satania realized her mistake as soon as she heard that doorbell ring. Vignette was here. She was here and it was bad.

Now you've done it. You've lost the only friend you'll ever have.

Satania had to keep mentally repeating Vigne cares over and over again to keep her thoughts from becoming too self-piteous. But when that bell rang and Eve had offered to bring her to meet Vignette—no, thank you, Satania had responded quietly—her thoughts went immediately south.

You've made a mistake, like you always do. Why couldn't you die?

And suddenly her arms were itching again. Tears were piling up, and she couldn't breathe.

Why couldn't I die?

In her low point, it never registered to her that Eve hadn't left the room. She was there, hugging her. The demon collapsed, sobbing into the woman's arms. "Shh…" Eve whispered. "We don't have to do it today. I can turn her back, you know. I don't want this to cause more harm than what it heals, love."

"No." Satania was even more horrified at the thought of turning Vignette away. That would only fuck up her situation more. "But...can you...send someone else to get her?" She asked. "I..don't want you to leave."

"Absolutely." The angel agreed, conjuring a tiny cupid out of her signature golden magic. Whispering some instructions into its ear, she sent the tiny little thing flying out the door.

And then they sit there, angel hugging demon, and Satania wished for the millionth time that the voices would fade away.

Vignette will never accept you.

She's always been afraid of roaches, and that's what you are.

A lying, worthless, useless, helpless roach.

And then she began to cry.

* * *

The door opened slowly, and a tiny little...thing flew up to meet Vignette. It looked like one of those baby-angels that people associate with love and Valentine's day, but there was one, strange little thing.

It was golden. And alive. Most certainly alive. Vignette's bug phobia kicks and she stepped away, shivering as she conjured her trident. She squeezed her eyes shut, flinging the trident in what she thought was the direction of the cupid.

Boom.

And her eyes opened, one after the other, to find that the cupid is covered in soot, but still alive. And the house's interior (or what she can see of it) was completely fine as well. So where did she throw her weapon?

Some smoke from her right answered her. The lawn's garden (wow, this house had it all) was destroyed and in flames, here trident's points digging into now infertile soil. Vignette blushed, immediately sorrowful and embarrassed. But before she could go to fix her mistake, the cupid shakes impatiently. It turned around, leaving a golden trail as it flies away. Vignette, still slightly embarrassed, stepped tentatively into the house.

And she was flabbergasted. It looked like a mansion outside, and was certainly one inside as well.

Huge chandeliers hung from the high ceilings, and gallivant paintings decorated the walls. The staircases were wide and spiraling, with water flowing from mouths of lions, eagles, and bears.

And the gold. Oh, there was a lot of gold. It almost blinded Vigne with how shiny everything was.

Not wanting to lose her eyesight, Vignette hurried after the golden trail, leading up to a normal, non-golden, normal sized door. A quiet "come in" beckoned her when the cupid phased through the brown gateway.

And she's greeted with a sight she'll never forget.

* * *

Satania felt Voice cut off when Vignette entered the room. Satania was still crying was still being embraced by Eve, but Vignette momentarily distracted her from her sorrows. But the silence that followed was almost worse.

Vignette stared at Satania, open mouthed. A million questions flew through her head. Who is this woman? Why is she hugging Satania? Why is Satania crying? But she didn't ask any of these questions. She just stood there, silent, watching as Satania weeped.

Satania eventually quieted, but Voice was back as soon as he left.

She can't even talk to you properly. You're disgusting.

And then Satania buried her head back into Eve's shoulder,salty tears flowing down her cheeks again.

It was like this for a while. But eventually, Eve patted Satana's back, and motioned for Vignette to sit down on the chair where Eve sat before. Satania and Eve re-adjusted themselves to face Vignette. "Hello, Vignette. You must be Satania's friend."

Neither third party saw Satania flinch at the word "friend".

"Wh-who...are you?" Vignette accuses.

She can't even confirm your friendship. Voice pointed out.

Eve carries on. "I'm Dr. Eve. Satania's therapist. I'm trying to help her…" And she paused here, looking at Satania for the okay to continue.

Satania nodded very slightly. Eve nods back, saying, "I'm trying to help her feel better. I'm helping her heal."

Which, frankly, answered no questions on Vigne's part. Heal? She thought. Heal from what?

A second later, she realized that she said these things out loud.

Satania looks at her, eyes wide and fearful. "Yesterday was...a bad day for me, Vigne." She spoke slowly, waiting to see what Vignette's reaction was.

At this point, Vignette's mind was in a complete and utter frenzy. She had no idea what in the actual hell was going on, and the two other people in the room were looking at her with extreme apprehension. Maybe the other woman made sense, but Satania? Satania was only ever scared of Raphiel and Gabriel! Why did she look at Vigne like that?

"Bad...how?" Vignette whispered.

Oh no. that was the wrong thing to say. Satania suddenly looked like she swallowed a giant pill, and that pill was coming up any minute now. But what was Vignette supposed to say?

"Yesterday...I...y-yesterday…" She was trembling, and the other woman had an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Who was she, anyways? Vignette thinks.

"Yesterday...I tried to kill myself." Satania finished, quiet.

Vignette was by all means, stunned.

"What." She doesn't phrase it as a question, only as a statement.

She wanted to question it, she wanted to, but for some reason, her mouth can't form the words.

Satania recoils from her, eyes wetting.

"What." Vignette repeats.

Eve felt like she should interfere, but she figured she could give this girl a few more seconds.

"I...I tried to kill myself—" Satania tried to finish, but was cut off by the demon.

"I know what you said. Why." After standing up, Vignette transformed into her demonic form, tail swishing behind her.

Satania's eyes are widened almost completely. Eve saw this and stood up to face Vignette. She let her wings spread behind her and she conjured a giant harp, holding it like a bow, one golden arrow ticked on a string.

Both demons are terrified. Satania was only beginning to realize just how powerful the angel was, and this was turning into a little more than a stressful day.

Vignette was astonished. An angel? A fucking angel? But there was no mistaking those white-feathered wings and that glowing hair. The holiness of it all was starting to get to her, making her sick.

Then the angel spoke. "We asked for you to come here in order to build a better support network to help Satania. However, if you make her uncomfortable again, I will have to ask you to leave."

After a moment of tension passed, Eve receded into her human form. Vignette waited a second more until sitting down, still apprehensive.

Eve smiled. "Let's try this again. I'm Dr Eve Adams, and I met Satania yesterday. While we are still learning about each other, I've taken her on as a patient and as my charge."

A charge was, what Vignette guessed, some term for whom a guardian angel (?) was taking care of.

"Yes, I am an angel, and while that may a bit of a challenge in the long run, I am determined to work through it. We brought you here today in order to help Satania get more connections. Does that make sense?"

Vignette felt herself nodding, but questions still flew through her head.

What caused her to do this?

Was it Raphiel?

Gabriel?

And one, tiny voice in the back of her head whispered, was it me?

Well no matter what it was, Vignette wanted—no, needed—to figure out why. Whatever this was, whatever caused her friend so much hidden pain, whatever caused her friend to make that choice—Vignette would be damned if she couldn't figure that out.

But laying on the couch, crumpled from tears, Satania kept whispering her answer over and over.

"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know."

* * *

SO! HERE Y'ALL GO, C-H-A-P-T-E-R T-H-R-E-E! I worked for a while on this, and I had a completely different idea on how this was going to go from the beginning vs how I wrapped it up. I was planning on filling in the holes from chapter two that Wonderblade0 pointed out to me, and I think I did about half of that. The thing that changed my mind was that I figured this chapter served its purpose, you know? I only needed to reintroduce Vigne to Satania, and that was it.

That said, Wonderblade0, I had to borrow a tiny bit of the Guardian Angel aspect from Pieces, because that felt like the best logical explanation for Eve. Is that okay? Again, Chapter four is going to continue down the worldbuilding and character building lane.

So I do know where to go from here, but I'm also debating on continuing Only See. people like that, and despite me writing that thing at midnight as a oneshot, I can continue it—If y'all want me to, that is. I am more excited to write for this fandom, because I finally got Vol. 6 of the manga!

Anyways, DFTBA, y'all!


	4. Fallen Out

Fallen Out

Satania shot up, sweating profusely. She couldn't remember her dream—she stopped remembering them a while ago, but she was sure this feeling had nothing to do with it. Her arms and legs were shaking, and it was hard to breathe.

_Oh fuck. _

All those times, when she went and met her various dealers in the past year and a half, she never _really _knew what drugs she was taking. Marijuana and heroin were just words. All she wanted was a feeling of relief, which she received every time she shot up or snorted.

But the price was this. Her body, convulsing and seizing up, giving her more pain than she had ever felt before. Her demonic immune system could only put it off for so long, and then—

— _and then…_

The world was spinning. Satania was going to throw up. _She was going to throw up. _

_Oh fuck, oh fuck, ohfuckohfuckohfuckOHFUCK— _

She buckled down on the bed she was sleeping on, and belched. Whatever she ate for dinner yesterday was now splattered in a green blot across the bed. Something wet and salty ran down her face.

She was crying. Not out of self-pity, like normally, but out of physical pain. Her stomach felt like it had been wrung out and whipped around like a wet towel, and her _everything _ached.

"_Satania! What's wrong?" _A voice called out.

The door to her room burst open, Vignette and Eve standing at the door, looking apprehensive. When they say Satania curled over on the bed, leaning over her vomit, they looked horrified. "S-satania? What happened?" Vignette ran too her friend to help her up.

After the events of the day before, Vignette had decided to sleep over at Eve's. It was only for the night of course, but Vignette felt like she needed to be there, if only to make up for the lost time that she wasn't. Eve had obliged, and while Satania was more or less still doubtful that there friendship was worthwhile to Vigne, she voiced no objection.

Satania looked at her with bloodshot eyes. "_It...hurts.." _She panted in between spit-spewing breaths.

The next question came from Eve. "What does?"

Satania whispered, "_D-drugs…need..."_

Both parties were alarmed. Vignette was the first to react, like a scared puppy. "D-drugs..._Satania?_" She spoke in disbelief, trying to draw a connection between the two things. Sweet, innocent Satania was an addict?

Then again, sweet, innocent Satania also tried to kill herself only days ago.

"_Wh-why?" _Vigne asked quietly, almost hoping her friend wouldn't hear.

Her hopes were in vain. "_Why…_?" She muttered, tasting the word between bile and blood. _Why _was irrelevant. Couldn't Vigne see that? It didn't matter!

_Who the hell does she think she is? Be fucking _absent _from my life for fucking forever, then barge in, demanding to know how I feel, what I've been doing to myself? What gives her the right? _

Satania glared at the other demon, and raised a shaking hand. Charging it with all of her demonic energy, she slapped Vignette across the face, knocking her to the floor "_Get out. Get out of my sight, Vignette April Tsukinose._" She growled. "_Whatever you think you're doing, It won't work. Don't try. Just keep fucking ignoring me like you have for the past two FUCKING years!" _

From her position from below staring up at Satania perched on the bed, Vignette was afraid. Satania looked the most demonic she had ever been, with her eyes like cracked rubies and her frothing mouth.

_Was this really Satania anymore?_

"Satania, that's enough." Eve spoke for the first time since the confrontation began. Moving to the demon, the angel placed a glowing hand on Satania's shaking back. After a moment, the demon's eyes rolled over, and the demon fainted.

"Wh-what did you do?" Vignette whispered, still afraid that Satania would jump up and attack her in a wild fury.

Eve sighed. "I simply sent a small pulse of holy magic through her. It's nothing lethal, but it should be enough to knock her out for an hour. When she does wake up, we will probably have to improve our treatment plan to commenderate for her...addiction issues."

Hearing that word, _addiction_, made it more real to Vigne all of the sudden. The Satania she had known before, evidently, was a _fake._ A lie. And Vignette wasn't a good enough friend to see that.

She prided herself on being the best friend of them, the one that held the group together, but she couldn't deny it any longer.

She was a terrible friend.

Eve felt the emotional state of the demon crumble, so she led her to the edge of the bed (furthest away from Satania) before she started crying. "Shh…" She murmured, saying, "What's wrong?"

"I just keep wondering, was it my fault that Satania ended up like this? Why she is so...messed up?" Vignette's voice was full of doubt as she once again went through her many questions.

Eve sighed. "Vignette, what Satania said...she wasn't thinking clearly. She was suffering from withdrawal, which makes one irritable and angry. Whatever she's causing you to think...she doesn't mean it."

"Y-yes, but even so, I should have...I should have noticed something! H-how could she h-hide all this? I-I am a t-terrible friend…" And here the tears really started to flow.

They sat in silence, like that. Eve smiled slightly. "If you were a bad friend, why would Satania nominate _you _to help her first?"

"Yes, but—"

"And you mustn't blame yourself for her mental state. Satania was, before this, her own responsibility. If she was not feeling well, she would hide it from you, so it could not be your fault for her depression. And again, the fact that Satania wanted you first shows just how much she considers you a friend, and how close you must have been to discovering something."

"But why didn't she _say _anything?" Vignette whispered. "If she truly saw me as a friend, she would have—"

"She would have been stopped." Eve interrupted. "She was feeling a lot of bad things, and because of that, she didn't want help, since she knew you would have stopped her, Vignette. It's important to know the reason that she didn't come to you wasn't because of a lack of friendship, it was because it was of a presence of one."

This gave Vigne pause. It wasn't that she was neglecting her friend, rather, it was because her friend hid it from her. She still felt guilty about not seeing the signs, but it was considerably lessened now that she had heard Eve's reasoning. In fact, the remaining guilt would serve to further help her friend out.

Maybe she could fix this.

* * *

Satania woke up surprisingly refreshed. Her mind was clear, and her stomach was no longer in knots. Since she was feeling better, she took a moment to appraise her surroundings. She was in a bigger room than the one she was staying at with Eve's, but judging by the gold walls, she could tell that she never left the house. Indeed, she was in Eve's room, because the queen-sized bed had the same gilded floral pattern as when she's been her for the little tour.

The room was very spacey, with huge windows peering up into clear skies—was it that late in the day already? And an open door to her right peeked into a master bath. Yup, definitely Eve's room.

To her left, however, were two chairs. Upon them sat Eve...and Vignette. They hadn't noticed she was awake yet, since she had yet to rise from a lying position.

A flood of memories bombarded Satania's head all of the sudden. A flash of vomiting on the bed, a glimpse of slapping Vignette.

_Oh..god. What have I done?_

The red mark on the other demon's cheek confirmed that it was not Satania's mind playing tricks on her. It was real.

**You really crossed a line, didn't you?**

_Shut up. _Satania thought weakly.

**Pathetic. I warned you, useless. Although, if you want to make it up…**

**...eye for an eye, perhaps? Although a failure like you...deserves far worse.**

Her arms itched. Oh god, how long has it been? What she would do to feel the cold blade again...the one thing she could trust…

She shot up all of the sudden, startling the other two in the room. "Satania!" Vignette cried out, running up to hug her—

—and stopped short, evidently being reminded of what happened earlier.

A sharp pang of guilt attacked Satania, making her flinch.

"How did you sleep, Satania?" Eve asked, intervening.

When she heard Eve's voice, Satania was distracted from her moment of despair. She spoke quietly, unsure. "I...slept fine." She said. In actuality, she slept great, but that fact was downplayed by her new feelings.

"I would hope you didn't sleep badly, at least. I had given you some angel dust to counteract the withdrawal symptoms when you fell asleep."

Vigne turned her head sharply; she was shocked. "Angel...dust? Isn't that a hallucinogen?" She asked.

Eve laughed lightly at that. "You'd be surprised at just how many drugs were named after heavenly healing substances...due to your side of course. Anyways, the healing effect administered by it won't last forever; And that is what I wanted to talk about with you and Satania after she woke up. I want to put her on some medication both for her drug addictions as well as depression."

Satania was slightly damped by that last part. Saying it out loud, "addiction" and "depression" only solidified her situation. She couldn't ignore it now, she couldn't pretend.

**You can't run from the truth anymore. **Voice sang. **A messed up, useless, burdensome demon.**

Hot tears formed at her eyes, but Satania sucked them in...she couldn't break down now. Not again. Not here.

"Satania? Is something wrong?" Eve asked kindly. Damn it, she sensed it. "We don't need to discuss it here, maybe over a brunch?"

Satania nodded. The idea wasn't a bad one. She could go with it, for now.

* * *

She could absolutely _not _go with it. That bottle, sitting right there between Vignette and Eve's plates full of blue pills stood out agrilly like one of her scars. Only, unlike those, she couldn't ignore it.

She tentatively picked at her eggs and bacon. Vignette noticed this, saying, "Satania? Can you eat, just a little bit?' She paused here, awkwardly, perhaps realizing she was saying something she shouldn't. A encouraging smile from Eve helped her continue. "...It'll be good for you."

Satania didn't look up. They must have talked a bit after her initial wake-up-and-blow-up. She didn't know what to think of that.

"Alright." Eve spoke firmly. "We need to decide on some medication for you. Your mental health plan is easy, really. We've already got a plan for therapy, and I have some pills that you can take morning/evening. However...as for your...addiction, that will require some effort, I'm afraid."

The girls listened attentively, breakfast forgotten.

"It will be hard, yes. Whatever you got into will only matter partly. The treatment side of things will be easy, since the Angel Dust both acts as a temporary relief _and _a substitute. Gradually, we'll wean you off of that, and then on to some smaller, lower affecting stuff. "

She took a breath, transitioning from _good news _to _bad news._

"The problems normally wouldn't exist. Unfortunately, because of your demonhood, the holy qualities of some of the substitutes can cause some side effects. For every day that your body _forgets _its addiction, another day will happen were it will convulse in twice the pain from not satisfying the need. Normally, I would avoid this by figuring out what you have taken and prescribing _human_-made medicine, but again, your demonic nature—which, in this case, is actually synonymous with angelic nature—would use the substitute more severely than a human."

She paused for the slightest moment, waiting for the girls to catch up.

"It will be a battle, Satania. But we'll be here for you." She smiled, and Vigne did too, and for a moment, Satania felt a twinge of hope.

* * *

"Oy, Raphiel." Gabriel muttered. "Why are we here again?"

The two were on stakeout in front of Satania's home, waiting for some kind of activity. This was all they've been doing all day, and nothing—_nothing_—was happening. It was almost like nobody was there. Which shouldn't have been strange, and Gabriel was about ready to leave. She had games to play, anyways.

The only problem was that nobody left, and nobody returned. This triggered Raphiel's weird stalker tendencies, and she sat there, loyally, like a dog, waiting for something to happen. And she made Gabriel do it as well.

For a few minutes, Gabriel was intrigued. She wanted to know where Vigne had ran off too from yesterday, was, and Satania's seemed like the best place.

But it was _booring._

She entertained herself by throwing rocks at the window for a bit, careful not to disturb Raphiel from her cat-like perch.

A second passed, and then another, and then yet another.

_Alright, guess I'm gonna be ignored. _Gabriel sighed, throwing another rock at the window.

It shattered.

Raphiel was shaken out from her trance, falling over before catching herself. "Gabriel! What did you do?" She said, surprised.

Gabriel sat there, open mouthed, not responding.

"Um." She said after a moment.

Raphiel was mildly annoyed; not only was this stakeout entirely pointless, but now whatever amusement she could have gotten out of it was lost. Satania was sure to know that they were hiding out here now.

But when no noise preceded the initial glass-breaking, Raphiel became...worried? Concerned?

Nope. the word to use here was _delighted. _Finally, something interesting!

"A'ight, guess that's my cue to invade the place." Gabriel muttered, opening an unlocked—_unlocked?_—door and running in.

Raphiel followed in soon after, surprised at how empty Satania's apartment was. Upon opening the door, a cold draft of air blew into her face. Something was up. The floors were cold, and not a light was on. Tracks of something sticky littered the floor.

_What is going on?_ A single, worried thought entered Raphiel's mind as she tiptoed along the demon's apartment.

The door to Satania's bedroom was open, showing an unmade bed and a backpack left forgotten next to it, with books and not-done papers strewn across the floor.

"R-raphi?" Gabriel's voice called.. She was in the bathroom. "Y-you should see this."

Bells started ringing in Raphiel's mind. Something was obviously wrong, for Gabriel to sound like that. Quick as the melon-bread stealing dog, Raphiel raced over to the bathroom.

Gabriel was on on her knees, eyes wide in shock.

The bathroom light was on, in contrast to the rest of the apartment. But that wasn't what had Gabriel terrified.

The mirror was shattered. Pieces of glass peppered the floor like tragic glitter. A small knife laid on the sink, dried blood coating its edge. This.._.blood_ trailed further out of the bathroom, leading into the bedroom, then hallway.

_What...happened?_

* * *

_**I am alive! Immortalized!**_

**Whew-hoo, guys! Chapter four is here, and I am officially now more productive than compared to Falling Apart! Yay! A little shorter than intended, sorry. I...didn't know what to write in multiple occasions, leading to a very long case of writer's block.**

**Writer's block only happens when you don't know where to go, and I was worried that was what happened. And it did. But I'm back now, with fresh ideas on where this thing is going to go. It's going to start to focus a little more on the other three girls now, but my original plot won't change.**

**Congrats to Violet Pieces for their story finale to **_**Pieces**_**!**

**DFTBA,**

**Nate**


	5. Fallen For the Last Time

Fallen For The Last Time

The sun peeked through the curtains, shining on Vigne's face. She blinked rapidly to get used to it, and after a minute, she sat up, uncharacteristically exhausted. Usually when she woke up, she chipperly made her bed, ate breakfast, brushed her teeth, and got dressed right away.

Today, however, she couldn't even get up from her bed. Vignette was up all night thinking about Satania. She still really couldn't understand it—The Satania she thought was real and the Satania she had just found out about. These two personalities...Vignette felt her cheek where Satania slapped her.

Vignette felt like she couldn't forgive herself. She _shouldn't,_ right?

A buzz from her phone shook her from her thoughts. Reading it, she saw that it was a text from Gabriel.

_I'm not going to school today. Not feeling well. Visit me at work, k?_

Weirdly literate for the angel. Something was up. Vignette typed in a response quickly.

_Something wrong?_

The response came after a minute.

_I'll tell you about it at work._

And that was the other thing! Gabriel didn't—she doesn't _work! _It was a chore she did once a week, and even then, not on a monday!

But if it gave her an excuse to have some of the coffee from there, then Vignette wouldn't complain.

Another buzz.

_Bring Satania._

Vignette was immediately alarmed. Satania? What would Gabriel want to do with the demon anyways? Wasn't there some kind of mutual hate between them?

_Not the only one Satania hates. _A scornful thought reminded her. Flashbacks of those red eyes and that angry snarl appeared in her head. Vignette felt her cheek again.

_Satania doesn't hate me. She needs me right now._

Breathing deeply, she typed her response.

_I'll see if she wants to._

* * *

Raphiel and Gabriel hunched over the phone, apprehensive.

_I'll see if she wants to._

The two had stayed at Raphiel's place, mostly because of the mess at Gabriel's. They hadn't a wink of sleep, instead huddled under the covers of Raphi's bed shell shocked and mortified. They tried passing the time, but each and every attempt at that would be cut short by thoughts of that bloody knife.

In the morning, they decided to _do _something about it. Gabriel texted Vignette in order to figure out Satania's situation.

Reading the last text, they breathed a sigh of relief, now knowing that Satania was still in contact with Vignette, and not _dead_, like they thought she was.

Both of them felt really good all of the sudden, and almost jumped with their happiness.

But there was one thing they still needed to figure out.

_Where is she? _Gabriel texted.

A minute later.

_Somewhere you don't know._

And all of the elation drained from their faces. So something was still wrong. Something bad.

That knife must have meant something, right?

"Okay, then." Gabriel stood up. "Guess...I'll get ready, then." She announced, standing up from her tucked in position under the blankets.

"Get ready?" Raphiel smirked. "That's a little unlike you, Gabe."

Gabriel glared at her. "Shut up. I'm just in the mood, got it?"

Raphiel smiled slightly. Typical Gabriel. The angel who normally never gave a fuck about anything turned into a gigantic nervous wreck as soon as she did again. It was certainly one of the more...amusing parts of her friend.

They didn't talk again until after Gabriel got into her uniform. She spoke first as they stepped outside. It was a brilliantly sky blue day

"What...what do you think's up with Satania?"

And there it was. The question. The thing that both of them wanted to ask, but couldn't, because it felt like if they did, Satania's supposed death would be confirmed.

Raphiel sighed. "I'm sure it's nothing. Satania is a bouncer, you know. But...if whatever it was yesterday was a prank, then...that's far, even for her. I guess I'm a little worried."

Gabriel looked at her, eyes wide and scared. "But...Raph, remember when the four of us first came here? Back then, Satania would show up most every day of class. But now, we hardly see her! Ah-and, surely you've sensed her aura! Why...why didn't we do something?"

Raphiel looked down. "I don't know." She said emptily. "Why would we, honestly?"

* * *

After an uneventful day of school, one absent of Raphiel and Gabriel, Vigne stood at the front of Eve's door. With a nervous press, she rang the doorbell.

It was Satania who opened the door, surprisingly. "Oh. Vignette." She said plainly, stepping aside to let her in.

Vignette's eye rose at the dullness of Satania's actions. Her worries ceased, however, when the demon smiled a little bit at her. Vignette asked, "How are you feeling?" once she took off her shoes.

Satania kept smiling. "Honestly? I feel...just alright, I guess. Those pills must be doing their job."

Vigne was slightly disappointed that Satania didn't feel happy, but _alright _was a step in the right direction. Pills can't do everything.

_Oh, right. I have a job to do._

"Erm..Satania? Can I ask you a question?" Vignette phrased quietly.

Satania was caught off guard. "Uh...Ok? Here, walk with me to my room, then we can talk."

It was a silent walk, the two girls saying nothing as they made their way across the golden castle that was Eve's house. When they arrived to Satania's bedroom, Eve was there, folding Satania's clothes. They weren't clothes that Vignette had ever seen on Satania, but they definitely were her size. _Eve must have got new stuff for Satania. _Vignette thought.

"Ah, welcome, Vignette." Eve said, smiling kindly. "How are you today?"

Vigne nodded. "Good, actually. I just came over to ask a question to Satania, and it's... good that you're here too."

That worried Satania a bit. _What could she need? _

She waited for the inevitable quipp from Voice, but none came. It wasn't like he was gone, just...blocked. She could feel him, but it was like those pills had him restrained or gagged. It wasn't a good feeling to her...just a _less worse_ one to when she wasn't on the antidepressants. Something to get used to.

"Satania? Do you want to hear the question?"

Satania was shaken from her thoughts to find Vigne and Eve looking at her expectantly. "U-umm...sure?" She said nervously. Vigne sighs.

A moment passes. Vigne breathed, than said, "Gabriel wants to see you."

Satania blinked. _Ga-gabriel? _Her tormentor? The bully full of contempt and hate for her? She wanted to see _Satania? _Quickly, her brain tried to figure out why. Maybe Shades was forcing her to because of all the missed homework. Maybe she just wanted to pick a fight. Maybe...maybe…

But try as she might, Satania was at a loss for why Gabriel would want to socialize with her of all people.

"..why?" She asked. For some reason, she wasn't repulsed by this idea. It must have been the pills.

Vignette was caught off guard, looking incredulously at the other demon. She evidently thought the answer would be a _no. _Eve also looked surprised, having tried to stop herself from saying _really?_

But Satania wasn't concerned with that. She felt weirdly empty right about then, so maybe this talk with Gabriel would solve this feeling. Even if it made her angry, or sad, that would be something. Where she was at felt...wrong. Even to her.

So yeah.

* * *

_She said yes, _the phone buzzed happily from Gabriel's pocket. When she read it, she felt elated all of the sudden. She smiled at Raphiel in the corner, almost laughing with relief. _Now _she could put this feeling behind her. This feeling of worrying. And then she could return to games and laziness and apathy.

Master was certainly surprised when Tenma showed up at work. Mondays were never her thing. But imagine his surprise when she actually started working that day! Usually she delivered her job with a healthy amount of uncaring and an extremely low amount of customer service, but today she was at the best he'd ever seen her.

Something was off, though. She did each and every chore he gave her with strange skittish attitude—she would check her phone with a shaking hand every minute, and paced around the shop idly with like she needed to use the bathroom. It was the same with her friend, too. Tenma had brought in another sweet lady by the name of Ainsworth—they met before, but this time they were truly properly introduced—and even she was ordering way too much coffee any high schooler should drink. And when Tenma would bring it over, the two would talk in hushed voices for 10 minutes a time.

But before he could ask her about it, two more of their friends walked in, plus a lady with blonde, flowing hair. "Hello, Master." The first one greeted. Ah, Tsukinose was here! Master smiled. This would certainly soothe Tenma's uptight disposition.

But another look damped that thought. She looked strangely somber, which was not a look that fit her normally angelic mood. And the second one—Mcdowell, was it?—looked bored in comparison to the confident smirk she always wore.

And the woman with them? She also looked tenebrous today. And looking at Tenma and Ainsworth, their sudden fear alarmed him.

Master quietly began scrubbing a glass behind the counter.

He watched Mcdowell freeze in her tracks when she looked at Ainsworth's table. "R-raphi? I-I thought only Gabriel was going to be here!" She looked like a deer caught in a hunter's path with how she was looking at the other girl.

The woman looked at Tsukinose. "Yes, Vigne, I thought you said only Gabriel would be here earlier."

Tsukinose looked caught off guard. "I'm...sorry, Satania. I never asked."

Up until now, the other parties hadn't spoke. Tenma broke the silence. "Why can't Raphiel be here?" She challenged, and for a moment a bit of the old Tenma came out: defiant and spiteful.

But then Tsukinose exploded. "I think you know why, Gabriel." She hissed. Master scrubbed the glass harder—he's been scrubbing it forever—and thought to himself, _what happened to them?_

But then Tenma snarked back, "No, I don't, actually. This is why I asked you to come! Don't get mad if I never told you Raphi was coming! Doesn't she deserve to know what the hell is going on with useless over here?" She gestured to Mcdowell.

The girl in question flinched. When Master looked over to Ainsworth, she was silent. Unusual for a normally talkative girl. Why hasn't she spoken yet?

Now, though, the woman spoke up. "Satania asked for you only, Gabriel. But if you start making her uncomfort—"

"And who the hell are you?" Tenma interrupted angrily.

The woman glanced at Mcdowell for conformation to speak. When the girl nodded, she said, "My name is Dr. Eve. I'm Satania's therapist."

Both Ainsworth and Tenma gasped. "E-Eve?" Ainsworth spoke for the first time in a while.

_Eve, huh? Like the first woman created in the bible? _Master moved to a plate, quietly setting down the glass he was working on forever. _Now how do they know her?_

"Yes. now, Raphiel, I'm going to ask you to leave." Eve commanded her strongly.

Ainsworth nodded submissively, getting up and walking out the door quietly…

….only to turn around and hid behind the wall outside. Master wouldn't have noticed anything if it weren't for the tip of the shoe visible from the door.

Should he say anything? One look at the hard stares the girls were giving each other told him no, no he shouldn't.

Tenma was back in the nervous shell from before. "So...Eve, huh? You're Satania's...therapist?"

Eve nodded. "Yes. We came here to talk to you about her after Vignette brought it up. It all depends on if you'll listen."

Tenma sat down where Ainsworth was. "Okay, I...will?" She sounded unsure.

Satania took a deep breath. "A couple days ago...I tried to do something. Bad. I tried to…" She shuddered,

"...kill myself."

_Beat._

Master realized how horribly wrong his listening in was.

Tenma's eyes widened. "O-oh."

Outside, Ainsworth's shoe tip tapped the ground quickly. She heard as well.

Tenma, still in shock, said, "Is that what the knife was for?"

Master's eyes widened. _Knife? She was going to stab herself?_

This, however, was ultimately not the right thing to say. Mcdowell's eyes widened, and with a shaky voice, she asked, "W-w- what knife?"

Even Tsukinose looked caught off guard. "Knife?" She seemed positively incredulous.

Tenma kept going. "The one Raphi and I found at your house!"

The world seemed to freeze. "My...house?" Mcdowell stared at Tenma.

One thing that Master learned about Gabriel was that when she was truly, truly nervous, she would not stop talking. Until she screwed up. "Yeah the one that Raphi and I found in your house when we went to visit you but you weren't there and the door was unlocked and the lights were off so we went in and looked for you and found the bloody knife of the ground and—"

Mcdowell was looking at her arms. Upon closer inspection, Master saw that there were red lines criss crossing them like stitches.

_oh._

Mcdowell started crying all of the sudden. That shut Tenma up.

"What did I expect. What the actual _fuck _did I expect?" Mcdowell growled through angry tears. "The only _fucking _reason Gabriel pretends to care is because she _fucking _broke into my house! And you know why? Because she can. Because anyone can barge into my living space and use it because I'm so _fucking _worthless. You wanna know what that knife was for, Gabriel? Friendship. That's what it was for. Don't pretend to have that with me, bitch. I hate you."

Looking at the door, Master saw that Ainsworth was gone.

Eve spoke softly. "Let's go home, Satania. We'll talk later, Vigne." She offered a weak smile to Tsukinose. And with that, Mcdowell and Eve left the shop.

"Wow." Tenma giggled harshly through tears of her own. "I really fucked that up, didn't I?"


	6. Rising the Fail

Rising the Fail

Gabriel never hated Satania. It was only a...strong dislike of sorts. A resentment, really. Gabriel resented Satania because she was everything Gabriel never was: confidence without reason, joy without source. Because as evil and malicious as Satania liked to pretend she was, at heart, she was just a happy girl. Satania had this power to bounce back from everything—the kinds of shit Raphiel _and Gabriel _gave her, her foiled "plans" to corrupt the angels, and her own humongous ego. And it was this reason that Gabriel, while almost always annoyed with Satania, kinda admired her.

And it was also this reason that none of this made sense.

Gabriel grimaced through hot, salty tears. What was wrong with her? Why didn't she do anything?

The coffee shop was quiet. Vignette looked at her with pity—_damn, she hated that_—and Master was cleaning a plate—mechanically, like he was devoid of life. _Did he hear anything? _That was...certainly problematic, but Gabriel would deal with that later.

After a long forever, Vigne finally spoke.

"Gabriel? Are you okay?"

Gabriel wondered if she would answer. _Because,_ she wondered, _why do I care?_

The answer was a hard and fast _because conscious. _Would she ever be allowed to return to the bliss of stoicism?

Gabriel took a shaky breath. "N-no...I d-don't think so. Damn, Vigne, what happened?"

Vignette walked over to Gabriel. "Something bad, Gabe. something we all contributed to. But…" And here, Vigne sighed quietly. "Nothing we can't fix, hopefully."

_Vignette. Always the optimist. _Gabriel looked sharply at her. "_All contributed_? You didn't do anything, Vigne."

Another sigh. "Exactly, Gabe. I didn't do anything. This," she pointed to a red mark on her cheek, "was from Satania when she yelled at me about how I haven't...been as concerned as I should have been."

Despite the situation, Gabriel was still surprised. _Satania had it in her to do that? _

Vignette continued. "And she was right. But now we have a responsibility as friends of Satania to make it up to her."

Gabriel suddenly felt like curling up into a ball and disappearing. "Vignette. You heard what she said."

_You wanna know what that knife was for, Gabriel? Friendship. That's what it was for. Don't pretend to have that with me, bitch. I hate you._

Vignette hmm'd. "Yes. But do you _want _to be friends with her? Good friends?"

Gabriel felt heat rushing to her face. "Y-yeah...I mean...yes." To be completely honest with herself, Gabriel never saw her and Satania has close friends at all. But…

Gabriel owed it to Satania to try.

Suddenly, Vigne smiled. "Good! So, I think our first step is to try this little...meeting over again. I will go over to Eve's and figure out that part. Your job is to stay in the area for a bit. I'll call you when I get us another shot with her, ok?"

Gabriel muttered an unstable _yes _back, and walked towards Master, picking up a dirty glass and a rag, before cleaning the glass carefully and silently. "I'll stay here until you figure something out, Vigne."

Vigne nodded. "See you, then."

* * *

Satania felt like shit. That was the first and foremost thing on her mind, and it was not leaving anytime soon. She had thrown up as soon as her and Eve arrived back to the mansion, littering the golden floor with green and brown chunks of vomit. Now she was curled up on the couch with Eve watching a cheesy romcom.

Withdrawal sucked. That, plus the guilt she felt from walking out on Vignette. She couldn't care less about Gabriel at the time, but her anger made her leave her _actual_ friend in way to much of a hurry.

The doorbell rang.

A gold cupid flew over to Eve and whispered something in her ear. Eve sighed, saying to Satania, "It's Vignette."

Speak of the demon.

Satania didn't answer for a beat. "Can you get her?"

Eve nodded, going to the door. When she returned with Vignette, the first thing Satania noticed was just how _sad _Vignette looked. It made sense, considering the nature of their situation, but it still was jarring to see on such a normally cheerful demon. "Satania," She spoke softly, "can I...sit next to you?" She gestured shyly to the couch.

Satania didn't hesitate. "Sure," she affirmed, moving over to make room.

Vignette waited for the silence to get comfortable, entertaining herself by watching Eve move around in the house doing chores, carrying one basket of clothes to one room and then to another, and then organizing the kitchen.

_Wow. _Vigne thought idly to herself. _It's like they've kind of established a mother-daughter relationship._

Eventually, Satania spoke. "Vignette? Did you want to say something?"

The demon in question was shaken from her thoughts abruptly, before saying, "Oh yeah. I did come over to ask you something." Her tone of voice went a very similar route it had been recently: somber, with a hint of regret.

It didn't suit her.

Satania waited expectantly.

"Gabriel...wants to try again." Vignette spoke. The other demon's eyes widened raptly, showing distrust.

Vignette continued in fear of Satania's response by pouring out more excuses and defenses for why Gabriel would want this. Why she would want...friendship out of the blue, after two years of not giving a shit.

_Pity _was the only thing Satania could think of. It was the only thing she could think of for any of this happening, from all of this _help_ she was getting.

**Always second-guessing yourself nowadays. What happened to the proud Satania, the one who was always competent and successful?**

**Oh. she never existed, now did she?**

Satania felt the _urge _hit her once again. It would take it away, it would help her. And she hadn't touched a knife in a while, right?

But Vignette's voice brought her back. She was still talking, and talking fast. Satania felt her _urge _disappear slowly, like a sandy beach being washed with a calm wave.

"...And, Satania, she feels really sorry, you know?"

A direct question like that prompted Satania to respond, "Sorry, Vigne, can you...say that again?"

Vigne didn't give any affirmation that she heard, instead just resetting her speech like a playlist on loop. "Gabriel wants to fix this, Satania. And even if it does seem like...she doesn't care, well, she does. She genuinely wants to learn about you, and never meant for you to feel this way, you know? So...can you give her _one more chance?_"

Satania thought about it. Not long, though.

_Everyone else is giving me a chance after all this time. Maybe...I should give Gabriel one then._

Not a bad idea.

* * *

Master was having a weird day. His teenage employee, Tenma, was acting _extremely _out of character. Not only was she suddenly his star employee, but her mood was going up and down faster than a time-traveling roller-coaster with a loose bolt. At the beginning, she was nervous and jumpy, then suddenly ecstatic when Tsukinose and Mcdowell came in—until talking with them and becoming angry and spiteful for a brief second. But when some..._information _was revealed, she became subdued and quiet for the remainder of the day.

And it seemed like this roller-coaster was about to get a hell of a lot more wild, because Tsukinose and Mcdowell—along with that one lady, Eve—walked right back in.

Master made himself scarce quickly, but not so scarce that he couldn't see what was happening. He scurried to the corner of the store and opened his storage door: a room full of coffee beans from all corners of the earth (and beyond, although he didn't know that) and pretended to 'take inventory' (a useless practice, he knew how much and exactly what was in stock at all times) all while keeping an eye on the conversation that was about to start.

Tenma froze where she was, and walked stiffly over to a table, where she pulled some chairs out. Master noticed that her and Mcdowell didn't make eye-contact at all, and Tsukinose _tried _to send a reassuring glance to Tenma, but it didn't translate.

Eve quickly took the reins of the conversation. "So," She began, "Satania felt like she could give you another chance; so—" Eve shot a glance at the girl, getting a nod in affirmation back, "—she will start off this little meeting, okay?"

The other two present nodded. Mcdowell took a breath, exhaling through her mouth.

"Gabriel...I'm...sorry about earlier today. I just feel...well..._frozen_.

"...see, my whole life down here has revolved around actions, and then consequences. I learned very quickly that I could not _hope _to cause a good thing to happen, because of my ego, because of how fucking _useless _I am, because of how _sad, _how _lazy, _how _incompetent_—"

Here, Master observed the girl choke on that last word. "Breathe, Satania," Eve spoke softly, rubbing circles on her back.

And Mcdowell then laughed bitterly. "And you didn't really help things, Gabriel. So my question is this: _Why do you care?_"

To which Tenma exploded, "You could have said something! If I was hurting you that much—"

She was interrupted by the 'time-out' gesture Eve was making with her hands. "Now, Gabriel. This is what I heard Satania say. She's felt pretty badly for a while, and you were a contributer to that. So she's asking why do you care about her feelings _now_ when they were obvious before. Is that right, Satania?"

Mcdowell nodded.

Eve turned back to Tenma. "So, what is your answer?"

The restuarant was silent for what seemed like eons. Tsukinose shifted awkwardly in her seat. Like Master, she doesn't need to be here. But what'll happen if she leaves?

So,again like Master, Tsukinose waited.

Tenma breathed quietly. "Satania, y-you know, I always kinda...admired you."

_Beat._

This raised a few eyebrows from the other parties. _Admiration? _That was Tenma's answer?

For his part, Master couldn't comprehend what it meant. Luckily, she continued.

"Y-you're everything I'm not, you know. You have drive, you have confidence. You _care _about things. I...it makes me annoyed, but...It's not bad. It's kinda nice, y-y'know?

"So when I see this, you not being what I thought you were, I feel..._I know _I need that fixed. I _want _to, because I know it's partly my fault. I understand we...we aren't really friends, but like...could we try?"

Tenma has been blushing this entire time, and her eyes would not meet anyone else's. Mcdowell is the same way, but Master can tell it's for different reasons. Mcdowell was not expecting _that _answer, of all things.

Eve, for her part, is smiling. She's found hope, a way to help Mcdowell. That is what Master reads, at least.

It's the same with the Tsukinose, who looks largely happy now.

Eve began. "Ok, then. Satania, what's your take on that?"

The girl in question looks unsure as what to answer, but says a firm "Yeah, we can try."

Tenma's eyes shone. She now had a chance at redemption!

"Alright, then. What do you want to do?" Eve looked at Mcdowell. "If you two want to become friends, we should plan something. Vignette could come too, you know. Like a sleepover, a hang out or—"

Unable to help himself, Master spoke." She could...work here."

What an idiot.

* * *

When Satania said it was okay to talk at the coffee shop, it was an understatement to say that Eve was surprised. Most of he time, patients had the option to talk in private with who they wanted to, in fact, it was encouraged. Talking in the open like this too was also legally ambiguous, because Eve wasn't sure if she needed some form of a release of information or not.

But Satania insisted for this, saying something about how she would be more comfortable doing it at the shop, and that "barely anyone would be there." And anyways, everything was anonymous in public.

But now Eve saw that this was a mistake. The man standing in the closet looked guilty. He must have known Gabriel for him to say anything. Her boss, judging by what he said. So the anonymity of it was thrown out the window.

But Satania seemed okay with it.

"Yeah," she confirmed. "I...think that would be okay."

So Eve sighed, saying to the man, "well alright then. When can she start?"

To which he responded dumbly, "...right now."

* * *

**I know it was a long wait. I'm sorry for that, but I was away from where I could post Chapter 6. That said, I ****_do_**** need a short hiatus for about a week and a half for personal reasons. Finally, Thanks for sticking with me this long, and as always- **

**DFTBA! 3**


	7. Rising Return

Rising return

"Okay, so, in order to blend coffee _well, _you'll want to do this," Master grinned as he mashed the beans with a practiced hand. Gabriel and Satania watched quietly, and for the first time, Gabriel was giving a shit about her work. The same couldn't be said about the latter, however.

Satania was still in shock at how easily this seemed to be happening. After the whole encounter with Gabriel, and the weird aftermath, Satania ended up with a...job?

Although it was sort of funny watching Gabriel actually work. That mild amusement made this whole exchange bearable. So far, as her first day of work went, Satania had learned all of one thing: Master's shop was _dead. _All the time. It was sad, honestly. No wonder Gabriel didn't try to put more effort in at work.

Speaking of Gabriel, The tension and awkwardness was really starting to get to Satania. neither girl had spoken at all during the two or three hours, and the demon would seriously scream if nothing was said outside of master's endless chatter.

Like God heard her wish—(or an angel, probably)—Gabriel finally broke the silence once Master had walked away.

"Satania?"

The demon looked up, not responding, instead making a face for the angel to continue.

"I'm...sorry. For everything." Gabriel said, trying to show she meant it.

Satania rolled her eyes. _Why was she trying?_

Gabriel took a deep breath. "Do you want to be friends?"

Satania glared at her. "Gabriel. Don't force this. I'm not trying to gain friends, _I'm trying _to fix myself! And how, _tell me how_, how is one of my least favorite people supposed to help me do that? All that shit about admiration and understanding may mean that _you _want to be friends with me, But why should I?"

**Wow, Satania.**

**You messed that up.**

**I can tell you why you want to be friends with her.**

**You want someone just as pathetic as you to be your friend so you aren't constantly reminded of how pathetic **_**you **_**are.**

**But here's the thing, failure:**

**She's leagues above you.**

**And when she tries to help you out, you push her away.**

**Sad, sad, Satania. What a sad, sad story.**

Satania's eyes widen as she pulls at her hair. "Shut up, shut up!"

Gabriel stares on in horror as Satania's breakdown attacks her. The demon staggers for a second, but it leaves as quickly as it came. "Damnit, I forgot. I forgot!" Satania ran across the shop towards her bag. Ripping open a pill bottle, she fished one out and took it dry.

Voice quieted.

"Does...does that always happen?" Gabriel asked tentatively.

Satania glared back.

So then the two fell into a bit of a rut. The silence only grew more and more awkward as the hours went by, neither knowing what to say or if anything should be said. Master tried to prompt some sort of conversation, but any kind of words at all did not pierce the sweeping, wiping and washing during the dead, dead day.

What happened next, however, was a tad unprecedented.

The doors open, and in comes a solemn-looking angel. Not the blonde that Satania had come to trust in her road to recovery, nor Vigne's angelic kohai, but the lilac-haired demon in angel's clothes.

_Raphiel._

Satania freezes for a minute—eyes staring at her adversary.

The angel is quiet, but her eyes stare deeply into Satania's.

"Satania, I—"

And then the red headed demon has a second attack that day.

* * *

Raphiel was _not _having a good would be impossible. She had just learned that one of her companions had just been pushed to the brink of fucking _suicide_! And deep within her heart, she knew why.

It was because of her. Satania was, in Raphiel's head, the easiest and best target. The easiest because of how thick her head was, and the best because of how she always bounced back. But now, _but now, _Raphiel knew.

She screwed up.

Because above all, Raphiel's..._toys_ were friends. She saw them that way. She wasn't completely monstrous, she was just mischievous. She only ever went hard on Satania because she thought she could handle it!

How naive she was to believe _that._

And so after hours and hours of wandering, she found herself in front of the one person's house she could consider a true friend of Satania. Hesitating for a second, Raphiel rings the doorbell.

Vignette opens the door, within a second as if she was expecting her. The demon keeps up a poker face, betraying no emotion. "You aren't as sneaky as you think you are. You heard everything, Raphiel."

Raphiel feels surprised, but only for a second. During the little confrontation, Vignette had only listened. So _of course_ she would hear the angel.

Vignette moves to let her in. She sighs. "I wish I was surprised, Raphiel. I'm not, though. I'm disappointed. Why'd you have to do that? Why'd you stay?"

Raphiel walked over and sat on Vignette's bed. "I had to, Vignette."

"No you didn't. It wasn't your place, Raphiel. Eve asked you to leave—"

"But it _was _my place, Vignette! I had to hear what happened! I'm the main reason for Satania's...her—"

The angel cut herself off, words bubbling into salty tears and hiccups.

Vignette's eyes widened. _You really regret what you did, huh._

"Raphiel." Vignette placed a hand on the angel's shoulder. "We are all at fault here. What happened to Satania...it's not gonna go away. But you know...it's our job to help her deal with it, understand?"

A nod.

"So if you want to fix your relationship with her, the first step is to say sorry."

Another nod. Raphiel gets up, drying her tears. "Thank you...Vignette."

Vignette offers a small smile. "Don't thank me. Apologize to Satania, you got it?"

* * *

And that's where we are now.

Satania writhed on the floor, blood coughing up. At this point, everyone was panicking. Master was dialing 119. Raphiel stared in horror as the demon screamed, Gabriel was rooted to the spot, a broken plate tragically decorating her feet. Vignette, previously hidden from view, ran up to the other demon. "Shit, shit, _shit! _Satania! What's happening? What kind of hellish drugs were you really on?"

Satania's eyes are glossy when she looks at Vigne. "S-something c-called...d-devil's s-spit. G-got it f-from h-hell a-awhile b-back."

Vigne hissed. "Fucking _devil's spit? _That stuff was banned _years _ago!"

Raphiel ran up to her. "What is it?"

"It's a drug that contains literal demon souls! It's said to be so addictive, once your body goes into withdrawal from it, you'll die in minutes! We've gotta get the antidote!"

Gabriel bit. "Where is it?"

Vignette's eyes are downcast. "It's..holy water. S-quality. She needs to be washed with it. But we can't do anything about it now, so—"

"Yeah we can."

Gabriel transformed, shedding her earth persona for an angelic glow. "Ready, Raph?"

The other angel, also transformed, nodded back. "How long do we have?"

Vignette felt Satania's forehead. "Five minutes."

Gabriel grinned. "Oh please, going easy, huh."

"This is serious!" both girls yelled at her.

"Alright, geez. Let's go!"

* * *

The next bit happens in a blink of an eye. As the angels race towards heaven, they each have time to reflect.

Gabriel thinks about how maybe she's not as cynical as she thought. About how maybe, just maybe, she does care about things other than video games. Maybe she can find friends in her companions. Raphiel thinks about how her best target is about to die, and it's because of her. Because she's always thought of her as a toy. She knows that she has to change this.

But the getting the holy water is easy. The duo uses up almost all of their holy energy flying towards it, not stopping once. and as quick as they get it, they take even less time to leave.

Back on earth, Vignette thinks. She can never, will never, get rid of the guilt from neglecting her friend. But she would be damned if that was the case from now on. As Satania groans beside her, she prays to anyone and everyone to give all three a second chance.

And like magic, they get it. Raphiel and Gabriel, still clad in their angel's clothes, dump the holy water over Satania's head.

A second passes.

A minute.

But then the demon wakes up, eyes wide in disbelief, at her best friend and two angels who saved her.

Satania feels bad, like usual. She feels like a waste of time, like a mistake they retrieved from the trash.

But now she knows that's not how they feel.

They see her as a friend. They love her like one.

Maybe she could back?

"Hey Gabriel?" Satania asked.

Gabriel jolts, looking at the demon in mild surprise from speaking.

"Y-yeah?"

"I guess I could try."

_I do want to be friends. But for the reason you're thinking of, Voice._

Voice was silent.


	8. Rising,Falling: a study

Rising, Falling: a study.

To say everything was a smooth ride for the four friends would be a lie, because at this point we can all see some things cannot be repaired. But there is hope. In Japan, "Kintsugi" is the art of repairing cracks in a household objects with gold. The cracks are visible, becoming part of the history and character of the object. The object, however, benefits in a beautiful way through this.

Is that how this friendship has evolved? The four girls, Raphiel, Gabriel, Vignette, and finally, Satania, have gone through a lot. I wonder, is it worth it? Some friendships are so toxic, so poisonous, that walking away from them would be the better option. Is that true in this case? You would think that due to their opposing natures, it would be more than encouraged.

And still, it worked out. They fought, grew, changed. Satania glistens with gold cracks even now, and her friends are proud to have that title with her. So where are they now?

* * *

"Satania! Work's in 30 minutes!" Gabriel yelled through the door of her apartment. The demon got up with a moan—she overslept. It is worth mentioning that this happened for a completely different reason than usual. _Usually, _or, what at least it _used to be_, was that she was contemplating _why would I put effort into a world that hates me? _

But now, more humorously if not anything else, the only thought she had was _ughhhh…._

Take from that what you will.

Anyways, Satania got up reluctantly, moving to work through her morning routine. She sleepily went to make her morning coffee—_Mcdowell, as long as you know me, free coffee shall bless your soul_—Master had said, despite Satania's weak protests of, _no, you don't need to, it's okay, _ and eventually she just gave up an accepted the free coffee. At least it was good coffee, but then again Satania was horrendously taste-deaf so she couldn't often tell anyways.

After all of that was up and the demon walked through the door mildly more alert because of the coffee, Gabriel greeted her with a hug.

Satania's eyes widened. This was a new experience. Even though they certainly had become a lot closer ever since her overdose, the biggest greeting that Satania got from her friend and colleague was a nonchalant high-five. "Wh-wha…?" She asked.

She could feel the heat from a Patented Gabriel Tsun Blush. "Don't read into this, idiot…" the angel muttered. "I just...look. My stipends are really low, aight? And Master's cool and all, but my wages just ain't cutting it, okay? So…good deeds."

Satania smirked. "Oh, the Great Satania shall humour you, lowly angel. I shall allow you to use my body to make a quick buck!" she laughed.

"D-don't say it like that, dumbass! That sounds so...lewd!"

The demon giggled maniacally.

Gabriel didn't let go, however. "Satania…? Thanks."

This abruptly cut off the demon's laughter. "Eh? For what?"

Gabriel took a deep breath. "I think...being your friend has helped me, y'know? Be a less than horrible person."

Satania squirmed to be released from the girl. Once out, she put her hand on her shoulder. "Gabriel, let me tell you something. We...all made mistakes, I think. You guys...well." she paused, letting bad things go unsaid. After a moment, she continued.

"I was a coward. I hid my feelings, I ran away. And I know I coulda done something, because I knew you guys aren't heartless. There was even one time were _Raphiel_ walked me home so I wouldn't be alone in the rain! And it wasn't like you were purposely mean anyways. I was just a coward, and I fell into a hole of my own making.

"My point is, no, _thank you_. Thanks for helping me, all of you."

By this point, Gabriel was silent. The two girls were looking down solemnly, but this episode of silence when Gabriel checked the time. "_Shit. _'tania, we gotta bounce." and grabbing a hold of the other girl, Gabriel teleported them all the way to Angel Cafe.

* * *

Satania felt a little queasy after the teleportation, but that was probably only because of the fact that holy magic was being used on her. She stumbled clumsily to the ground, muttering _gee, Gabe, a little warning, yeah? _Before getting up. But before she could admonish the angel, Gabriel was already out the door, greeting their first customer.

When Satania saw who it was, she smiled. _Eve. _There were only so many blue-eyed blonde-haired angels on earth, and only one that was a customer here. "Hey Eve," Satania announced, walking up to give a little hug.

Eve grinned. "Hi, love." and another one of those comfortable silences enveloped all three of them. Eventually, the silence became a little _un_comfortable for Gabriel, because she said meekly, "yo, what do you want?" that would be considered as rude if it were anyone else.

Eve rose an eyebrow anyways. "Is that anyway to treat your customer, Gabriel?"

Gabriel went on the defense, saying with a blush, "W-well you're not really a customer, Eve! Just tell me what ya want."

Eve set a smile in that annoyingly serene but playful way she did anymore. "Yes, but Gabriel ...I can put in good words with the big man if you treat me nice...I know you need that stipend boost."

Gabriel looked skeptical. "How much are we talking..?"

Eve didn't blink. "20,000—30,000 yen a week."

The younger angel's eyes widened. "Welcome-to-the-angel-cafe-how-may-we-help-you-miss?" she rushed out in obvious disbelief.

Satania blinked. _Geez, talk about greed. Who's the angel again?_

Eve laughed. "That's more like it. I think I'll have a...devil's latte."

_Oh. _That was one of the Satania-specific items. Master had held a bit of a competition a while back where all of his employees went through a competition to see who could invent his 'next artisan menu item' and since his only two employees where Satania and Gabriel and Gabriel didn't give a shit about creativity, Satania won.

But that in no way discredits Satania's coffee. It became a favourite the day it was implemented, and only Satania could craft it. It was honestly one of the demon's proudest accomplishments, right up there with beating addiction and depression. But secretly it _was _her proudest, because it gave her something _solid _and _normal _to be proud of. It proved she could _create _instead of _destroy_ and _decay. _

And so Eve sat down at her usual spot at the table by the window and sat patiently, always patiently. Satania got to work on her coffee, careful to make it perfect, just like how her day was. Once it was finished brewing, Satania opened a single packet of sugar and poured exactly half into the devil's latte, not her preference but instead, Eve's.

Upon delivering the coffee to the angel, Satania sat down.

"How're you doing today?" Eve asked.

Satania shrugged. "Gabriel hugged me on the way here, that was pretty...interesting."

Eve sipped her coffee, making a _mmm _noise. "Huh. She can be a softie, can't she?"

"She said it was for her stipends." Satania deadpanned.

Eve laughed musically. "Tsundere, then."

The sun peaked out from the horizon, lighting up the small cafe. Anyone who peaked in through the window would see two individuals positively glowing in an almost heavenly light. And while it might be _slightly _ironic, it certainly felt like heaven to the demon.

Eve set down her coffee. "Satania, can I ask something?"

"Yeah?" The demon snapped from her daze.

"Are you happy?"

This was a question that used to be part of their therapy routine. It filtered down from a 1-10 scale _1 being super happy to 10 you're thinking about jumping again _to _1, 5, or 10? _To _10 or 1 _to simply _Are you happy?_

"Yes," The Future Queen of All Hell replied simply. It was her natural response to the question, an instinct.

Eve was about to respond, but of course the door had to open and then of course more people wanted the famous devil's latte, so of course Satania got up with an apologetic smile and went to work her caffeinated magic.

Those two customers were actually Vignette and Raphiel. Satania greeted them with a hug, motioning them to sit at their usual table. When asked about the hug again, Satania cheerfully brought up what Gabriel did earlier, leading to more tsun-gabe moments. All three of them had a laugh at that.

Because it was nearing summer vacation, plans for another beach visit were brought up by Vignette.

"I'm down." was all Gabriel said, continuing to watch blue bloods or whatever she did on her computer.

Satania hesitated if only for the spittest of seconds before answering. The last time she was invited to a beach...well, the beach was fine, kinda, but the loneliness she felt before she ended up getting invited plagued her mind. But again the split-second passed and she replied, "No beach party can be complete without the Great Satania, is it?"

Raphiel giggled. "No, it isn't." and Satania does not feel mocked because they are _friends_ and she is okay.

But then something mildly surprising happened.

"If it is okay girls, may I come along?" Eve asked, her coffee dry. "I don't have any plans for that weekend, and I've not been at a beach in forever,"

Raphiel and Gabriel shared a look. If this angel came along they would have to behave. While they weren't mean to Satania anymore, they were still _the least behaved angels heaven had seen in forever. _

Vignette seemed delighted—she and Eve had ended up bonding over how much of a _mom _they both were, constantly fretting over the other three girls.

Satania wanted her to come—_why were they even thinking about this? It only made sense_—because after her day-to-day therapy with Dr. Eve had dissolved into week-to-week, Dr. Eve became simply Eve to Satania. It was like having a surrogate mother who helped her here on earth. Satania loved her. So of course she wanted her to come.

In the end, they said yes, and a month or so later, the five of them had a regular beach day you see in any anime. It was beautiful.

* * *

So where does this leave us? At the end. We saw everyone change, pretty much only for the better. It's not just Satania who's brightened through _kintsugi, _but everyone. Gabriel learned discipline, she learned how to be a real and best friend. Vignette learned how to better help others, how to ask them what they need. Raphiel learned what it means to go too far, and how to make them laugh _with_ you instead of only you laughing _at_ them.

And Satania? She learned that she isn't horrible. The world isn't horrible, and her friends aren't horrible. She learned how to control more of her situation than not, and how to ask for help. Satania, I believe, gained three new friends that day.

* * *

**Thanks. It's been a wild ride, and all I can say is thanks. This story is over...after a year and a half. (maybe. Has it been two years?) That said, I still think about this fandom and what stories I can make of it. I may even return to this universe, who knows? (however Only See continues to call me) **

**Special thanks to Violet Pieces for inspiring me to revive this AU...and for guiding me through the worst of my decisions. Thanks to a reviewer by the name of CFalcon075, it was nice knowing there was someone just as passionate about this project as me. **

**And thanks to everyone, really. Reviewer or not, I love knowing my story was read by you guys.**

**So one last time for this story,**

**DFTBA**

**Nathan Dripps**


End file.
